Beading a Rainbow: Sparkling Rainbow Collection

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Everyone needs a little pop of color in their wardrobe, whether that be in their closet or beaded jewelry stash. Each color of the rainbow has significance, some evoking power and some meaning peace. Whether color connotations are your reason for branching out or you like the colors and the way they make you feel, these sparkling beaded jewelry projects will pave a path to beading a rainbow of colors for your wardrobe. 

Warm Hues in the Rainbow 

Evening Star Necklace

The red crystal rivolis in the Evening Star Necklace, made by Agnieszka Watts, are reminiscent of rubies, a stone often associated with wealth and power. Meanings of the color vary depending on culture and historical period. In the 1600s, red became popular with the French who could afford the expensive dye made from insects before synthetic dyes became available, as described by Susan Stamberg in The Color Red: A History in Textiles. In some parts of the world, only those with high social status wore red. Nowadays, red can be enjoyed by everyone. 

Millennium Brooch

With connotations of positivity and happiness, yellow also evokes the warmth of the sun. Historically, people believed yellow topaz promoted strength, and even thought it protected whoever was wearing the stone, according to JewelryNotes.com. The Millennium Brooch by Carol Wilcox Wells has just enough yellow to add some warmth to an outfit. You can style this piece in variety of ways: pinned on a jacket, a shawl, or (my personal favorite) at the center neck of a blouse’s collar.

Cool Tones in the Rainbow 

Emerald City Necklace

Turquoise, bronze, and golden beads complement the emerald crystals in this Emerald City Necklace, by Smadar Grossman. This advanced-to-expert beading project is easy on the eyes and adds a pop of color to any outfit. Oftentimes, green ends up representing envy and money, but it also symbolizes harmony and the richness of nature. According to Emma Taggart of My Modern Met, wealthy individuals often wore green. By the late 1700s, arsenite, a toxic chemical compound, was employed to create a new green dye. Luckily, this dye is no longer popular thanks to its toxicity, and we can feel safe wearing the lovely hue Using a variety of seed bead colors, the emerald crystals in this necklace pop and shine for a truly stunning piece.

Radiance Necklace

Dark blue and seafoam beads accompanied by gold and bronze beads make up the stunning Radiance Necklace by Lisa Kan. The sheer number of beads at the necklace’s focal point draws the viewer’s gaze to it. Blue often represents feelings of calmness, as well as stability and wisdom, among others. In The Secret History of The Color Blue, Maude Bass-Krueger writes that the color also occurs rarely in nature, making it a color historically worn by the wealthy. It was expensive to make, and when artists could afford it, they would save the color for their most important subjects. Nowadays, blue is a common color in dyes and pigments, so this necklace’s only true cost is your time to create it. Learn more about indigo dye in Tangled Up in Blue.

Empress’s New Jewels 

The Empress’s New Jewels ring, an intermediate project created by Nancy Cain, combines contrasting colors of seed beads to create a piece fit for royalty. Purple has long been associated with royalty, given the historical difficulty in producing purple dyes. According to History.com, civilizations along the Mediterranean used sea snails to create “Tyrian purple,” a dye so rare it was worth its weight in gold. Some royals even went as far as to ban others besides royalty from wearing it. It was not until the mid-1800s that purple became more accessible to ordinary people thanks to synthetic dyes. For a piece that will make you feel like an Empress, this ring is just the thing. Made using multiple stitching methods, this ring could easily be converted into a necklace, too.

Which project will you start with? Perhaps at the end of the rainbow or beginning? With so many options, there is no wrong choice. Enjoy adding these pops of color into your wardrobe and feel a bit of meaning behind each color choice.

Happy beading, 
Gabby Axner, Editorial Coordinator 

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